“Welcome to the most controversial show at the Fringe!” is exactly how Amanda Knox opens her sold out stand-up comedy show Cartwheel.
Following her new experiences in motherhood, Knox reflects on the turmoil that her own mother was put through when Knox and her then boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were imprisoned for the murder of her flatmate Meredith Kercher, whilst studying abroad in Perugia, Italy in 2007. Later acquitted, Cartwheel is Knox’s attempt to appropriately tell the story to her 4-year-old daughter.
The show is centred around Knox’s own personal account of her conviction. While having previously written two books, Knox uses her new motherhood as a lens to tell her story again at the Fringe Festival. Knox’s daughter Eureka asks questions throughout the show in the form of voiceovers, which pull the narrative forward, allowing Knox to discuss key experiences from her past and present.
She links the loving relationship that she has with her own mother to her experience as a new mother. Discussing her choice to hide her pregnancy for as long as possible, as she knew contempt from strangers and tabloids was inevitable. She also acknowledges that the case almost “took [her] fertility,” referring to the fact that if she had fully served her sentence, she would not be released until she was 46 years old.
The show focuses on the intersections between Knox’s past and present, as she notes that scrutiny of her current life from tabloids is typically intertwined with her trial. Cartwheel is named after an infamous story of Knox doing cartwheels in the police station, which she later clarified were actually yoga poses.
Framing the show as stand-up comedy is, in my opinion, inaccurate. Knox refers to her mistreatment, her grief, and motherhood in a composed way that does not trivialise the past insensitively. Whilst she does make jokes throughout the performance, they solely refer to the injustice that was reflected upon her. Despite this, the show is unsuccessful as a comedy set, and advertising it this way runs the risk of insinuating that the circumstances surrounding her imprisonment were trivial.
The show has been heavily criticized by the family of Meredith Kercher, and a petition set up by a friend of Meredith that opposes the show has reached over 40,000 signatures.
Knox concludes the show by performing a cartwheel.
Amanda Knox: Cartwheel ran until 17 August at Wine Bar, Gilded Balloon Teviot.
Image provided by Guilded Balloon to The Student for press use
